I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical scanning systems and more particularly to an improved optical scanning system which can be removably positioned on a checkout counter for use in a checkout operation.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In present-day merchandising point-of-sale operations, data pertaining to the purchase of a merchandise item is obtained by reading data encoded indicia such as a bar code printed on the merchandise item. In order to standardize the bar codes used in various point-of-sale readout systems, the grocery industry has adopted a uniform product code (UPC) which is in the form of a bar code. Reading systems which have been constructed to read this bar code include hand-held wands which are moved across the bar code and stationary optical reader systems normally located within the cabinet structure of a checkout counter and in which the bar code is read when a purchased merchandise item is moved across a window constituting the scanning area of the counter, which movement is part of the process of loading the item in a baggage cart. There has arisen a need for a scanning system to be installed in a checkout counter in which the operator is required to be in a sitting position at a checkout counter having a table-like construction.
The background art known to the applicant at the time of the filing of this application is as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,584,779, Optical Data Sensing System, by C. Kessler et al.;
U.S. Pat. No. 3,711,723, Optical System For Optical Fiber Bundle Scanning Apparatus, by D. McMurtry;
U.S. Pat. No. 3,728,677, Rotation-Independent Reading Of Rectangular Insignia, by J. Munson;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,361, Portable, Stand-Alone, Desk-Top Laser Scanning Workstation For Intelligent Data Acquisition Terminal And Method Of Scanning, by J. Swartz et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,276, Optical Bar Code Reader, by K. Yatesunami; and
U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,862, System For Optical Scanning Over A Large Depth Of Field, by J. Eastman et al.